liam payne's former one direction bandmates say they are "completely devastated" following his death at the age of 31. the group has released a joint statement saying "we re completely devastated by the news of liam's passing. in time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. but for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly". here's our correspondent fiona lamdin. # you don't know you're beautiful. liam payne, a music superstar. # it's got to be you. releasing hit after hit. helping one direction to global glory. he found fame while still a teenager, but his best friend from secondary school, john carpenter, knew him long before the rest of the world did. it was the first day of year 7 and liam came over to me and he said,

"oh, come on, john, let's join the cross country team together". and ifound out later that he was a really keen runner and he had been running for many years, but, nevertheless, he encouraged me to try and become as good as he was. for years, the pair trained and raced together, hoping to reach the olympics. when liam was around 13, his focus shifted from running to singing and performing, and you had a part in that? yes, there was a joke that went around st peter's at the time that actually, i pushed him into singing because i started to beat him at the cross country races in the wolverhampton schools races. and certainly from year 10 onwards, he started to focus a lot more on singing and the drama side of things. # fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars. and liam's career path was set from 2008 at his first x factor audition. he was only 1a. come back in a few years, thejudges told him.

# now you say you love me. and in 2010, he did just that. one massive, fat, almighty yes. i was really proud. overnight, it seemed, liam went from an ordinary, young, hard—working, humble guy from wolverhampton to a megastar. it was just surreal for us all. we couldn't believe what was going on. we had the local media coming to our school, holding up x factor banners saying "go, liam". he had overnight fame. what was that like when he came back to school and he was your friend? he walked up to me and he said in a jokey way, "john, i think you need to be my bodyguard. i'm worried that the other pupils are going to come after me." and literally 30 seconds later, like that, all of the young people and teenagers in st peter's were out of their classrooms like a shot, and they had their phones out, taking selfies with liam and myself, and one or two others were trying to guard him

against the crowds. so, yes, it was amazing to see, really. we'd never seen anything like it before on our own doorstep in wolverhampton. # if you like midnight driving with the windows down. # and if you like going places we can't even pronounce. liam was now living his entire adult life in the spotlight, but said he hadn't missed out on his teenage years. when we came out from school, you know, and college and stuff, we would have gone to uni, whereas this has been like our little kind of uni. having your mates around, you know. yeah, especially when we started in x factor house, as well, stopping in the same little room, whatever. like, you know, it's just living it out in a different way. and i think, you know, if i had to choose between the two, i'd much — you know, i'd do this every single time. jodie richards taught liam dance from the age of 12. she spoke to him just a few hours before he died. liam meant the world to me. so, i've got three children of my own, three boys

and i also consider liam to be, you know, family to me. he's definitely made a big impact on my life, as i hope i've made an impact on his life. those who knew liam will remember him notjust as a pop star, but as a funny and brave soul who left a lasting impact on them all. fiona lamdin, bbc news. before we move on, we want to show you these live pictures coming from germany. this is the bellevue palace in berlin. this is the official residence of the president and as you can see, that is the us president joe biden arriving and greeting his counterpart in berlin. as we mentioned earlier, this will be present biden�*s last visit to germany as us president. of course, he has been a great ally of the country. they have been working together on

helping ukraine during conflict after russia's invasion of ukraine. latertoday, after russia's invasion of ukraine. later today, we expect that president biden will be given a merit order. this is the highest honourfor given a merit order. this is the highest honour for the german state. that is president biden, greeting his german counterpart in berlin. as we were hearing earlier from counterpart in berlin. as we were hearing earlierfrom our correspondent in berlin, jess parker, she was saying that he is celebrated in germany and they will continue talks on how they will continue talks on how they can support ukraine in this war, but it is unlikely that there will be any new announcements in terms of support for ukraine going forward. and i guess the focus now for leaders in germany, biden will also be meeting the

british prime minister and the french president as well as the german chancellor. thoughts will be turning to the us elections, of course, when biden will be stepping down. and the focus will be on who will be taking over from and the focus will be on who will be taking overfrom him and what that would mean for the relationship between europe, nato and the united states. that was biden, signing the guestbook at the bellevue palace in berlin. following his meeting with the german president, he will then go on this afternoon, berlin time, to meet the leaders of the uk, the british prime minister, as well as the french president and the german chancellor. that smile from presidentjoe biden. let's listen to some of what is being

said. of course, president biden was speaking a little while ago, but they are sharing quieter words with the german president. this visit was expected to have taken place last week, the president biden postponed the visit because he said he wanted to focus on hurricane milton, which hit florida, and he wanted to focus on supporting the communities then. he has a course been visiting florida in the meantime, but now he has managed to make it to berlin and this is being seen as a farewell visit from president biden following his time in office. he has made several

trips to europe in that time, of course working with the region, focusing on the war in ukraine. we will bring you more on that visit later on bbc news. for now, let's return to the death of liam payne. let's speak to dr tara quinn, who is a psychologist.? thank you for waiting for us. i know you focus a lot on the impact of fame, of social media on people around the world. can you talk us through what the impact of finding fame at such a young age would have had on somebody like liam payne? it’s somebody like liam payne? it's im ortant somebody like liam payne? it's important to — somebody like liam payne? it�*s important to recognise that at the moment, people are grieving and looking for answers. so a psychologist can be helpful in helping people understand the impact of something like fame on someone who is very young

and whose brain is still developing. the front part of the brain doesn't finish its development sometimes until the late 20s, and that part of the brain controls how you make decisions, how you plan your impulse control. so if you throw something like being in the public eye, having a lot of pressure on you, a lot of exciting things, a lot of dopamine hits from being recognised, sometimes that can have a detrimental impact on your mental health, but also your mental health, but also your ability to navigate the things that are thrown your way in the future into adult and beyond. in the future into adult and be ond. �* . ._ in the future into adult and be ond. �* . , beyond. and liam payne spoke out about _ beyond. and liam payne spoke out about his _ beyond. and liam payne spoke out about his own _ beyond. and liam payne spoke out about his own battles - beyond. and liam payne spoke out about his own battles with | out about his own battles with addictions. we don't know the circumstances of his death, police are still investigating in buenos aires. but how easy is it to overcome addiction when you are in the public eye? addiction is a really complicated thing and i wanted to bring in compassion. when we are struggling with health

issues and pressures, it affects our emotional health. sometimes the way we cope is to try and number, and substances like alcohol and drugs can numb the intense thoughts that can come from being publicly accessible, so people can get accessible, so people can get access to you wherever you go. it is very easy to get caught in a cycle. addiction can be really dangerous and although sometimes we mayjudge, it is something we need to understand and be compassionate about. thank you forjoining us, dr tara quinn. we will take you back to berlin and the visit by presidentjoe biden. there is a guard of honour at the bellevue palace in the city. this is where president biden is meeting the

german president. let's listen to what is happening. us anthem plays. so the us national anthem being played out in berlin, as presidentjoe biden meets the german president. the us president will be awarded the order of the merit award, the

highest honour of the german state, full service to the nation. this is being seen as a farewell visit by presidentjoe biden in europe. this will be his last visit to germany as us president. german anthem plays.

and a little later, president biden will meet the german chancellor olaf scholz as well as the british prime minister sir keir starmer and the french president, emmanuel macron. a key focus for discussions continues to be the war going on in ukraine and the kind of support these countries could offer. yesterday, we heard from president zelensky, calling for much more support. he put forward what he called his victory plan for ukraine in the midst of this conflict. of course, he is calling for much more support, including long—range missiles, support to be able to use the ammunition provided by these allies deeper inside russia, support that he hasn't got yet. and of course, there is still the issue as to whether ukraine will be able to

join nato any time soon. but of course, over the past few years, and especially in the last few months, we have seen the us government, led by biden, offering billions of dollars in support to ukraine. one issue that has focused minds of leaders in the west is the election is happening in the election is happening in the united states. the former president donald trump has said he would question some of that support being offered to ukraine. and as we are hearing from our correspondentjeff parker —— jess parker, from our correspondentjeff parker ——jess parker, there is an expectation that there will be no new major announcements coming out of the discussions in germany between the leaders of the uk, germany and france as well as the united states.

if you're justjoining as well as the united states. if you'rejustjoining us, this is a visit by presidentjoe biden to germany. he is expecting the guard of honour with the german president, frank—walter steinmeier. this will be president biden�*s last visit to germany. before he stepped down as president.

and we are going to leave those scenes in berlin and take you to ohrid in north macedonia. this is the coffin of the former first minister of scotland, alex salmond, which is being brought out the vehicle. it is being draped with the scottish national flag. in the next few minutes, we are expecting that his body will be repatriated from north macedonia and be brought back to the uk and taken to aberdeen. this is the scene in ohrid in north macedonia, where the body of the former scottish first minister alex salmond is due to be repatriated from the

country back to scotland. mr salmond died suddenly on saturday after suffering a heart attack while attending a political conference in the country. bugler plays.

so that's the coffin of alex salmond, the former scottish first minister, being set ready to be put on this privately chartered flight that will be heading from north macedonia to aberdeen. when his body gets to aberdeen, he will be met by family members and the acting leader of the other party, kenny macaskill. mr salmond died suddenly on saturday after suffering a heart attack while in north macedonia. he was

celebrated as a seminal figure in scottish politics. we will have more on those developments in north macedonia. you're watching bbc news. 0k, ok, let's step away from the scene in north macedonia now and turn the politics in the uk. the bbc has learned that the uk government is planning to increase the amount of money it raises in inheritance tax at the budget. it is not known how many people are likely to end up paying more, nor how much more they would pay. inheritance tax is charged at 40% on the property, money and possessions of somebody who has died, above the £325,000 threshold. it raises about £7 billion a year for the government. around 4% of deaths in the uk result in

an inheritance tax charge. let's speak to our political correspondent, ben wright. help us understand what the bbc has learnt around this issue ahead of the budget? we have learned that _ ahead of the budget? we have learned that the _ ahead of the budget? we have learned that the chancellor - learned that the chancellor plans to raise more money via inheritance tax. i don't think it's a big surprise, because labour, in its manifesto, ruled out raising the three big taxes that could provide it with useful revenue — vat, income tax and national insurance, although there is a question mark over the employers' contribution to the national insurance element and whether thatis insurance element and whether that is something the chancellor is going to do, with strong hints she would change that. so therefore, she is left looking at smaller taxes to raise money. we know she needs billions of pounds extra a year to balance the books and avoid austerity, which is her stated

aim with this budget. so this complex tax, which stirs up strong emotions, both by proponents of inheritance tax and opponents of it, is going to be looked at but we don't know which of the reliefs and allowances she may be tempted to tinker with. but there is the potential to raise quite a bit more money. at the moment, the treasury receives £7 billion a year through inheritance tax. that is a tiny amount considering the £800 billion of revenue the treasury gets every year. few states pay inheritance tax, so at a time when many assets are rising in value, in particular houses, of course, and there is a big generational transfer of wealth and away from the baby boomers to their children and grandchildren, you can see why people in the treasury think this could be a good source of money to tap, but it will be controversial.—

controversial. yes, it well. talk us _ controversial. yes, it well. talk us through _ controversial. yes, it well. talk us through what - controversial. yes, it well. talk us through what the l controversial. yes, it well. - talk us through what the likely political fallout from such a decision could be? depends how it is done- _ decision could be? depends how it is done. the _ decision could be? depends how it is done. the conservatives - it is done. the conservatives haven't waited for the budget to attack this idea. they are long—standing opponents of trying to raise money through inheritance tax, they think it is unfair and that people should have the right to pass on as much money as possible to their descendants. so they have already said this is unfair. but it depends what actually happens and the argument that the chancellor makes about the decisions she takes, and that of course applies to the whole of course applies to the whole of the budget. but she has warned many times that there are difficult choices to make. and i think quite a few tax experts and think tanks have thought for some time that this is a fiendishly completed area in the way it currently operates, and it does not produce much revenue for the treasury, so it could be ripe for an attack by the treasury as a source of further money.

we are focusing on inheritance tax at the moment, but really, this budget is being seen as a crucial moment for the government that only came into office injuly? it government that only came into office in july?— office in july? it will be the definin: office in july? it will be the defining moment, - office in july? it will be the defining moment, and - office in july? it will be the defining moment, and it i office in july? it will be the i defining moment, and it will set the course for the next five years of this government. they have said endlessly that the inheritance is grisly and in terms of the public finances, the plans they were bequeathed by the previous government are extraordinarily hard. add into that the overspend that the government has discovered in various departmental budgets and the fact that they have settled pay disputes across the public sector, and there are difficult choices to make both about public spending, tax and borrowing. the choices that she makes will without a doubt if i'm certainly the first half of this new government.- i'm certainly the first half of this new government. that was our political — this new government. that was our political correspondent, - our political correspondent,

ben wright. the largest and brightest supermoon of the year lit up the skies last night. it was at its peak on thursday afternoon. we are just going to show you some of the images of the supermoon, a wonderful sight in many parts of the world. now the weather. hello there. plenty of clear skies across england and wales, giving our weather watchers the chance to see the hunter's moon, the third supermoon of the year so far. this was darlington a little earlier on, but the clear skies are widespread across england and wales and the supermoon can be seen as far south as hampshire as well. we have more cloud the further north and west, with strengthening winds ahead of this weather front that's going to arrive

during the morning rush hour. but with those clear skies, because it's been so wet recently, fog is forming and some of it will be quite dense in places for the early morning rush hour or the journey to school. so, that fog will lift away during the morning and central and eastern england, along with eastern scotland, will keep some sunny spells through the afternoon. to the west, some showery rain and strengthening winds, with gusts close to 40mph. but with the sunshine, we still have some pleasant warmth. the rain could turn heavy through northern ireland, particularly on the back edge of that, and the same for western scotland. some torrential bursts of rain not out of the question, accompanied by gusts of winds close to 70mph. perhaps eastern scotland will stay dry for most of the afternoon. but that weather front will continue to push eastwards in the early hours of saturday morning, and still quite windy with it as well, although the strongest of the winds slowly easing down.

we start saturday morning with rain through the spine of the country. fairly light and patchy as it continues to push slowly east. it may take most of the day to clear away, but behind it, sunny spells and a few scattered showers for most of us on saturday afternoon. temperatures still above the average for this stage in october. as we move out of saturday into sunday, we could see more of a significant area of low pressure. plenty of isobars squeezing to the southern flank of that low. it could bring some gales or severe gales, and it may well become the first named storm of the season. so, keep abreast of the forecast on sunday. some wet and significantly windy weather due to sweep its way north and east. and once it does, for england and wales, we'll see some quieter weather into next week. it stays unsettled further north.

live from london. this is bbc news. israel's prime minister insists that the war in gaza continues, despite the death of hamas leader yahya sinwar. king charles travels to australia and the south pacific — his biggest overseas trip since his cancer diagnosis in february. british foreign secretary david lammy begins his first official visit to china in an effort to improve relations. joe biden begins a visit to berlin for what will be his last visit to germany as us president.

hello. thank you forjoining us. i'm catherine byaruhanga. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has insisted that the death of the hamas leader, yahya sinwar, does not mean the end of the war in gaza. sinwar is widely believed to be behind the october 7th attacks. israeli forces say the 61—year—old died along with two other hamas members on wednesday during a ground operation in the southern city of rafah. an israeli drone captured pictures of sinwar sitting at the back of a room in a partially destroyed building before the building collapsed. the idf carried out dna testing to confirm his identity. iran's mission to the un describes sinwar as a martyr, saying the manner of his death will strengthen the spirit of resistance. the hamas leader's body is in tel aviv where people have been celebrating on the streets. our international editor jeremy bowen sent this report.